Why Listening to God Makes a Difference

By: Audrey Waugh

One thing that’s made an enormous difference in my life: learning to listen to God.

I believe the Holy Spirit wants to walk with us every day. Not just on Sunday mornings. Not just at church or a prayer meeting. God wants to be involved in our lives every hour. He wants to guide us.

Learning to Stop Doing Life in My Own Strength

Before becoming a Christian, I spent years trying to find the answers to life myself.

Back in the 1990s, I remember walking into a bookstore, and buying self-help books. There always seemed to be another book promising that if you followed 30 steps, your life would be transformed in 30 days.

Some contained good ideas. But there was one problem. They all depended on me having the strength to make everything work.

And I’ve discovered I’m not particularly good at doing life in my own strength.

When I became a Christian, God began teaching me something different.

Learning to Trust God With My Worries

One of my favourite passages is Philippians 4:6–7. It tells us not to be anxious, but to bring our concerns to God with thanksgiving and allow His peace to guard our hearts and minds.

Putting that into practice wasn’t easy.

I grew up in a household where worrying was almost a way of life. I often joke that Mum and Dad gave me a Harvard degree in how to worry.

For years after becoming a Christian, I prayed Philippians 4:6–7, but still struggled with anxiety.

Then one night something happened that changed my understanding of those verses.

A Storm Over Lake Macquarie

It was a Monday night in the middle of winter. I was heading to my men’s group and there was a huge storm over Lake Macquarie.

We had a 34-foot Beneteau yacht on a mooring near our home at Valentine.

Before leaving home, I had this strong sense that God was telling me, “Ken, you need to pray for your boat.”

So my wife Wendy and I prayed.

The weather became wild. Trees were coming down and there were reports of wind gusts reaching around 100 kilometres an hour.

But after praying, I went to men’s group and left the boat with God.

The Boat Was Gone

Later that night, I drove down to the boat ramp at Valentine and pointed my headlights towards the mooring.

The boat was gone.

So was the mooring.

Now, the old Ken would have panicked.

Instead, something completely unexpected happened.

I felt peaceful.

I went home to get a spotlight and told Wendy the boat was missing.

Her reaction wasn’t about the boat.

She looked at me and asked, “Are you okay?”

She knew something like this would normally send me into a complete panic.

But I was okay.

I went back to the lake and eventually spotted the boat several houses away, sitting safely against somebody’s wharf.

I knocked on the door and spoke to the owner.

He told me something extraordinary.

The yacht had broken free during the storm. Instead of crashing into the shoreline or other boats, this four-tonne yacht had moved sideways past eight or nine houses.

There happened to be one empty wharf because the owners had moved their boat to a marina the previous day for repairs.

My yacht stopped in front of that empty space and then appeared to back itself into the wharf.

The neighbours thought somebody must have been steering it.

When they shone a light onto the yacht, they discovered nobody was aboard.

I believe God protected that boat.

But looking back, I don’t think the boat was the biggest miracle that night.

The biggest miracle happened inside me.

For the first time, I experienced what I’d been reading in Philippians 4:6–7.

I had handed something completely beyond my control over to God. In the middle of a situation that should have had me terrified, He gave me peace.

That’s why listening to God matters.

It’s not about hearing some booming voice from heaven. It’s about learning to walk with Him, bringing Him into our everyday lives and becoming sensitive to those moments when He prompts us.

What Are You Facing Today?

Maybe you’re facing something you can’t control right now.

Talk to God about it.

You don’t need fancy words. You don’t need to know the Bible backwards. Just talk to Him like you would talk to a friend.

Tell Him what’s worrying you. Ask Him for help. Then start learning to leave it in His hands.

Life hasn’t suddenly become easy since I became a Christian. My family and I have faced some very difficult seasons.

But I’ve learnt that it’s possible to have peace even when life isn’t peaceful.

That’s the peace I discovered that stormy night on Lake Macquarie.

And that’s the peace I believe God wants each one of us to experience

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